BY NADIA RAMLAGAN
KY NEWS CONNECTION
The Trump administration and some House Republicans, including Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., have floated the idea of privatizing the United States Postal Service.
Experts said operating the agency like a private business could leave Kentucky’s rural areas without mail options for essential functions such as receiving checks or paying taxes.
Tyler Offerman, manager of policy initiatives at the Kentucky Equal Justice Center, said privatization would eliminate essential infrastructure in rural counties, noting 54 of the Commonwealth’s 120 counties are entirely rural, with no urban center.
“Many parts of Kentucky are not profitable based on some of these companies business models, and they’re considered expendable,” Offerman explained.
The Postal Service saw $1.8 billion in controllable losses in fiscal year 2024, compared to more than $2 billion the prior year, according to the agency. Supporters of privatization argued mail volume is dwindling and the agency has lost billions of dollars over the past decade.
Similar to how the decline in rural Kentucky hospitals has forced people to travel farther or skip medical care, Offerman pointed out the state’s most vulnerable people would have to travel farther for mail service or go without timely delivery and access to information they need to make ends meet.
“I help people in food stamps and WIC, and we’ve got people that help people with Medicaid,” Offerman outlined. “The way that you sign up and you get information around those programs is either the internet or the notices you get in the mail.”
Porter McConnell, senior director for Take on Wall Street and founder of the Save the Post Office Coalition, said the agency was designed for the public good in a functioning democracy. She added legislation requiring the agency to break even and poor decisions leaving it behind in the digital age need to be addressed to keep it robust.
“It’s a terrible candidate for privatization, because it’s a core service that everybody needs and everybody needs to be able to use affordably,” McConnell argued. “The consequences would be disastrous.”
An April 2024 poll by the Pew Research Center found overall, 72% of Americans have a favorable view of the Postal Service. That number jumps to 76% among Democrats, and dips to 68% among Republicans.